Off A Cliff
by Atemusluckygal
Summary: All a pharaoh needs is to be thrown off a cliff, for the third time, to prove his undying determination. As I was writing the 2nd chapter, I changed my mind. There will be a pairing: YamixTea. Bet you didn't see that one coming! -- Just another two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

I hate having to do these disclaimer thingies. I always forget.

And the oh-so-anticipated disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh. If I did, it would have a lot more mature content.

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_Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Pause…drip._

The former pharaoh of Egypt shifted his position, grunting slightly as he did so. The cave was dark, cold, and damp – not too welcoming, or comfortable. The rhythmic dripping of water from the roof of the cave was unnerving at first, soothing after that, and now it was rather annoying, and he wished he had something to cease the irritating noise as it continued to echo throughout the ample empty space. He had been here way too long, he was in need of medical help, and his friends were nowhere to be found, separated from him during the previous battle with medieval thugs on horses, clad in black armor and a vicious attitude. All his thoughts focused on his companions' well being – he prayed with every morsel of his mortal soul that they were still alive and well. In any case, better off than him.

It was not like he hadn't fallen off a cliff before – in fact, twice before. The first time, as he bitterly recalled, was back when he was forced to duel a brainwashed Weevil Underwood, atop a moving train that was probably travelling no slower than 90mph along a cliff side. Tea was with him. Miraculously, both had survived with only a few bruises and scratches, and spent about four hours unconscious. If he hadn't been so swallowed in grief and self-deprecation, he would remember more details about that specific incident. Still, he hoped Tea was fine now, here and today.

The second time was a far more terrifying experience, if possible. Bakura's Diabound's blast was so great and powerful, it had caused the chasm to collapse, causing his horse to go over the edge, and him soon after. He would have most likely been dead or at least laden with severe injuries if his devastatingly fatal fall hadn't been broken by the Nile itself. Again, only minor injuries were accounted for, save for the fractured hand when Bakura heavily stomped on it, causing him to let go of the edge of the cliff. Still, he was alive.

And he was alive now, only in a far worse condition than before, and whatever powerful deity who miraculously saved him from an untimely death twice before certainly did not put forth the same effort to preserve his physical safety this time around; bruises and abrasions littered his arms, legs, face, and various other parts of his body, and he was almost positive that his shoulder was dislocated and his ankle fractured, if not broken. His usual vibrant and wild tri-colored hair was dirty, tangled, and slightly damp from sweat. His hands suffered as well, instinctually attempting to steady him as he rolled and tumbled on the river bottom, resulting in deep cuts that seemed to never stop bleeding. Everything he touched, including his face, torn black tank top and blue pants, had bloody finger- or handprints. It would be rather disheartening to see, if anyone else were there.

Still, he was alive. Bleeding, aching, and in incredible pain and discomfort, but alive.

But what of his friends, he only wished he knew. He would go look for them himself, if he were even able to get on his feet. He had attempted several times before – fear of further injuring his already messed-up ankle, and his horribly stiff back, stopped him from getting anywhere. He had no choice but to sit, wallowing in his own miserable aches and pains, and depending on the support of the cave wall to keep him upright, until someone found him. The thought disturbed him, but he convinced himself to 'get the hell over it'. Time to be a man.

His Millennium Puzzle rolled lazily to the side, seeming now to be a burden rather than a heavily sought-after treasure. It was certainly heavy – a solid gold upside-down pyramid on a metal chain. If it weren't such a symbolic object to signify the bond he had with Yugi, or if it didn't contain so much power that even the pharaoh didn't dare to unlock a good amount of it, he would have probably willingly handed it over to those thugs. But no, he didn't, and that's what got him thrown off a damn cliff. Of course, that wasn't very smart on their part – now if they wanted it, they would have to find him first. And then they'd have to kill him. Although he was sure that the first task would be more difficult than the latter. He was lucky enough to find a spot secluded enough to stay well-hidden while he recovered. Though now, that seemed to be a bad thing as well as a good thing.

He wondered where his friends were right now. His heart twisted and writhed in worry for them. And he also pondered, if they were alive, were they out looking for him? Have they presumed him dead? Were they even alive? Damn it. He feared he would never know… if they never found him. He would die in this god-forsaken shithole, fretting over his friends' safety until the moment his heart stopped beating.

He frowned. No… he didn't want that to happen. He would go out and look for them, even if it killed him – and in his state, it was definitely possible. But it would be better than wasting away in an isolated place, being worthless and doing nothing about it. He'd made up his mind.

Instantly his fatigued bones creaked from being immobile for so long, as he forced himself to roll over on his stomach and push himself on his knees with his bloodied hands. His heart immediately began pulsating faster and harder from the strain and loss of blood. His shoulder screamed for him to stop, as it felt discombobulated, but he ignored his body's reactions to his efforts and continued to gradually stand on wobbly legs and sore ankle. Small grunts of pain escaped his dry lips at the searing pain, but nevertheless, he pressed forward, severely limping on that leg. It was amazing that he could even stand, let alone wander outside his safe haven. Despite his body's cries and pleas, he clumsily departed the cave, and entered the still, moonlit night.

As he stared up to the moon, he noticed there were two, side by side. Two moons? No, wait, he was seeing double. And his head was so light he felt it could float right off of his neck. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all…

"J-…Joey," he croaked, realizing that he had not spoken a word for many, many hours. "Tea…Tristan…Yugi…where are you…" he sounded as if he had aged at least sixty years, but he didn't care. All he focused on was making himself audible to anyone who could hear him. He hadn't had water for hours, if not most of the day, and it wasn't helping him.

Suddenly, the dizziness was too much for him, and his body gave way as he weakly fell to his knees. His vision became blurry and animated with little color spots, and the dulling headache refused to subside. He pressed his hands to his head, forgetting about and ignoring the new blood stains, and cursed under his breath as he tried to steady the woozy feeling.

"No…I have to keep going… I'm not going to find them this way…"

"Yami…?"

Now he was hearing things. He could have sworn someone had just called his name. He must be losing his mind.

"Yami!"

Perhaps he wasn't. That voice was so familiar, he definitely knew it well. It was high-pitched, undoubtedly female, and it was shaky with fear and concern. It must have been… Tea? Impossible. But why was it impossible? Maybe he really was losing it… his thoughts were scattered and nonsensical, to say the least. He wanted to believe she was there, yet he couldn't.

His mind was clearly circling around mumbo jumbo by now, and by this point he was ready to give in and relinquish himself to anyone's open arms. Whether it was Tea's, Yugi's, Joey's, Mako Tsunami's… anyone's, really. He just wanted to sleep with someone close and comfortable, and make all the pain go away. He'd find comfort in just about anyone who wasn't out to kill him.

Thankfully, as soon as he came to, he _was_ in good hands, and very friendly arms with soft, warm skin. The pain was still there, but the affectionate touch of a close female friend was far more than enough to ease it. It was rather strange – he didn't remember passing out, not at all. At one moment he just wanted to sleep, the next with his head resting on his brunette friend's crook of her elbow. His head was shifting a bit; it felt like they were travelling in some sort of vehicle.

His vision was a little blurry, but he could make out the visage of Tea's kind face, though apprehensive and tensed from worry. She mentioned something to the driver, perhaps something to the effect of announcing his coming-to, but it was all mumbling to his ears.

She shifted her eyes towards Yami again. "Yami, how are you feeling?"

It was faint and echoing, but he figured out what she said. "I'm fine. Are you and the others alright?"

She gave a faint smile. "Yes, they're all fine. But you're the one we're all worried about. When we found you, you were in pretty bad shape… but I guess you fared pretty well for falling off a cliff… we're taking you to the hospital now…"

"Where…are they…" He felt so weak and vulnerable; he couldn't get up to look for himself. He hated it.

"They're in the other Jeep with Marik and Ishizu. You really should rest. Your ankle is broken and you were bleeding all over. Your shoulder was also dislocated but Odion fixed that for you."

Yami checked himself over for the first time. He was lying on his back across the back seat of an open-roof Jeep, make-shift bandages covering his cuts and some wrapped several times around his ankle. And his shoulder was returned in its designated position, he noticed, which was kind of a relief – feeling his shoulder out of place was very unnerving.

Enough about himself; he wanted to know details. "Wha-what happened? Are they gone?"

"No, not all of them are gone, but we managed to force them to retreat. And thank goodness they didn't get the puzzle. Who knows what they would have done with that. Though I really don't know why they would push you off a cliff without taking it first… I mean that was kind of dumb…"

It was Yami's turn to smile. "Because they're dumb asses, that's why. I wouldn't give it to them so they became angry and wanted to punish me for my insolence. It's sure a good thing they didn't get this puzzle I suppose. You need brains as well as stamina to control it."

Tea giggled, though a little nervously. The mood seemed to lighten a little, briefly, before the driver announced their arrival at the Cairo hospital.

"We have arrived at the hospital, my king."

He was tan and bald, save for a long ponytail in the back of his head, accompanied by ancient scripture tattoos on the side of his face. He also spoke with a dead, nonchalant tone with a dry, deep voice. Undoubtedly, it was Odion. The mood became gloomy once again.

Yami found strength to hold up his hand. "Thank you, Odion, but please, no need for such formalities. Call me Yami, I would much rather prefer that."

"Uh… as you wish, uh… _Yami_. Allow me to help you." He addressed him awkwardly, as if he was extremely discomforted with calling him an alias name that was so casual.

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His foot refused to budge; it was constricted by fresh bandages and a bullet-proof purple cast to match his eyes.

In fact, it was difficult to move at all. And his body was numb, on top of that. Thank Ra for painkillers.

Wait, where was the puzzle? He gripped the cloth of his hospital gown where his heavy treasure usually hung. His heart pace quickened with worry… he found it lying neatly on the table next to him. He quietly sighed in relief, and tried to will his heart to slow back down.

He raised his arms over his head and stretched all the way to his toes, feeling slightly dizzy from doing so. He moaned in his uneasiness. The nurse, absent-mindedly tending to his medical needs, chuckled at him.

"Just relax, honey. You've got quite a lot of painkillers in you right now. Your friends are right outside, would you like me to get them for you?"

She had a kind, young face – most likely no older than 25 years old. Her dark brown hair was pulled back in a neat bun, with the nurse's cap on top of her head. Her teal-green eyes complemented her olive skin and averagely-plump lips. He certainly immediately felt comfortable with her, but he really wanted to see his friends. He nodded, but slowly, in attempt to shake off the light-headedness.

She offered him a soft smile before promptly exiting his room. When the door opened again, she trailed inconspicuously behind a very relieved Yugi, Tea, Joey, and Tristan. He held his arms open wide as his younger light approached him and embraced him in a vice grip. It hurt him slightly, but he didn't care.

"Oh my God Yami, we all thought you were dead!" Yugi exclaimed, refusing to let go. "Thank Ra and the holy god of Osiris you're alright!"

Yami couldn't help but smile at the boy, though he couldn't see him. His head was buried in the elder's shoulder, opposite of the formerly dislodged one. He gave his light one final squeeze before letting go, causing the younger boy to finally release him. He cast his eyes towards the source of a sniffling and choking sound, namely the very brunette girl who cared for him on the way to the hospital.

He reopened his arms to her and grinned. "Your turn."

Tea hurried to him and threw her arms around him without missing a beat. Yami exhaled sharply from being pulverized for the second time, but disregarded it completely once again.

"Don't ever scare us like that again Yami, you hear me?"

"Why do you guys keep reprimanding me?" Yami asked his friends, though jokingly, "what is this?" He wrapped his arm around her, and had begun to rub comforting circles on her back as her head nestled itself comfortably on his chest.

Tea laughed, her body shaking against his. "We were just worried about you, that's all. You gave us quite a scare!" Her voice was a bit shaky, and plagued with mucus. She must have been crying for quite some time.

He felt someone clap him on the shoulder. With the brunette still in his arms, he averted his eyes upward to see his Brooklyn blonde friend and his other brunette friend beaming at him, both with shimmering eyes.

"Looks like the Pharaoh is back to his old self again!" Joey said, with a rather uncharacteristically peppy tone. Yami smiled up at them.

"Glad to be back. I'm really glad you guys are okay."

Joey jumped at remembering something. He turned to Tristan. "That reminds me; score one for the good guys!" The teens high-fived, in their usual 'manly' victorious celebration.

Tea finally lifted her head from the pharaoh's chest. Her eyes were firm and serious.

"Don't celebrate just yet you guys. They're still out there, and they're still after the pharaoh. We need to be on our guard."

Yugi nodded. "She's right. But whatever they have planned, we can defeat them together!"

Yami returned with a nod of his own. "Right, we just need to stick together." His grip tightened on Tea slightly, as if to assert his statement.

"…and not getting thrown off cliffs would definitely help," added Tristan.

They all laughed merrily, with renewed determination.

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While you wait for the second part to this, READ MY OTHER STUFF! It's just sitting there, waiting to be read and reviewed... I put SO much effort into perfecting each presentation of my stories and FEEDBACK would be nice. Thanks :)


	2. Chapter 2

"Fucking crutches!"

Three days had passed. The once mighty regal figure of ancient Egyptian royalty sat on the edge of his modern-day hospital bed, cussing like a sailor as he attempted to stand dependent on two strange metal devices purposed to enable him to walk. Try as he might, he still wasn't psychologically capable of relying on two sticks to keep him upright. The former king would usually do more to obscure the expletives itching to explode from his mouth, but he was so frustrated with the concept of mortal dependence that he bothered to do no such thing. The kind nurse who had helped him earlier was nowhere to be seen. That's too bad. He liked her, and she would have probably been a big help to him right now.

Tea, sitting beside him with a worried – and yet, slightly amused – expression on her face, placed a comforting hand on his Yami's shoulder. "Come on pharaoh, it's supposed to help you. You won't be able to walk properly without them!"

Yami turned to face her; his face showed a begrudging umbrage, though it wasn't aimed at her.

"I can walk _fine_, Tea. Besides, how am I supposed to fight with these things weighing me down?"

Both Tea and Joey, who was calmly leaning against the wall of the hospital room, snapped to attention at his comment.

"What, are ya crazy?! You betta not be thinkin' of doin' any kinda battle in your condition!"

"Maybe I am."

"You're fuckin' delirious, aren't ya?"

Yami's face was stretched taut with resentment towards the reality of Joey's words – and hidden deep within layers of consciousness, annoyance at his blonde friend.

'He's only trying to help' someone in his head assured him. He laid the crutches on the edge of the bed and placed his bandaged hands in his lap, furrowing his brow in a mix of negative emotions. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity and a half of heavy silence, he figured out how to counter.

"My body may be weakened but my mind and heart are strong," he replied, not taking his eyes from the pristine white floor beneath him. "With that, I cannot lose. I'm going out there, and none of you can stop me."

It was too much for Tea. The brunette gasped in utter infuriation as she stood before him, her fists on her hips, forcing Yami to look at her. Her face was beat red in pure aggravation.

"You cannot lose, huh? Look at you, Yami! You had to be _hospitalized_ because you fell off a _cliff_ and nearly lost your _life_! Doesn't it mean anything to you that all of us thought you were _dead_? Can you even _fathom_ how hopeless it seemed until we found you? How lucky you are that you're even _alive_ and talking to us right now? And you're _complaining_ – about _crutches_!"

All eyes, bewildered, were on Tea, including the pharaoh's. Yami began to stutter, searching for something to counter, but a hand from the brunette silenced him before he could. He wouldn't say anything too rash to her anyway – at the moment, she looked like she were about to slap him. He didn't want to chance it.

Tea's firm eyes didn't falter, even from everyone's reactions, though she took a second to catch her breath before continuing. "You are strong, Yami. You're the strongest person I know. And you're incredibly intelligent. You're the smartest person I know, too. But no matter how strong or smart you are, you cannot pursue unrealistic endeavors, like fighting off powerful enemies while you came dangerously close to dying! If they were able to push you off a cliff without a second thought, who knows what they'll do to you next?! They want your puzzle and they will do whatever they can to get it from you, Yami! Not to mention the leader of those thugs wants you_ dead_! Don't you understand that?"

Her face finally began to soften as tears formed in her eyes, though the words that came out of her mouth were still harsh and bitter.

"God, Yami, you are going to _die_ with a capital 'D' if you go out there in your condition. I can promise you that."

She choked on the last few words. The very statement she had just uttered seemed to tip her emotions off the edge. She abruptly dropped to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably into her hands. Soon after, she felt warm bandaged hands on her shoulders, coaxing her to come closer to him. She knee-crawled over to him; her hands abandoned her face and threw themselves around him as she continued bawling into his black t-shirt as he held her close. The rest of the group in the room understood and, as appropriate, stayed silent.

"Yami… I… I'm sorry," she mumbled into his chest, "I just don't want you to get hurt, or worse…" Her voice was sticky with mucus again. He gently tightened their embrace, fully encasing her in a blanket of warmth and comfort. He wasn't sure why, but the fact that this girl worried so much about him made his stomach flip. He considered the possibilities, and avoided them just the same.

'_No… this was no time for romantic feelings…'_ he scolded himself. _'They'll just put her in danger…'_

Still, Yami couldn't resist the temptation to run his fingers through her brown hair; if it wasn't for his own gratification, it was to comfort her. At least, that is what he told himself. That didn't stop him from noticing how soft her hair was between his fingers, though.

"Don't worry Tea, I'll be fine. My Millennium Puzzle will protect me if need be." Truthfully, he wasn't so sure. Why wasn't he protected when being thrown off the cliff?

He glanced at the crutches beside him. Maybe he _could_ figure these things out…

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Two more days had passed.

By this time, Yami was able to maneuver about easily on the crutches. After only two days of using his arms to walk, he noticed that his arm muscles were beginning to grow and harden. He felt like he could lift a horse.

Yugi calmly sat cross-legged at the foot of Yami's hospital bed, watching his dark counterpart move about. "So, what now?"

The pharaoh hobbled over to join him, setting his crutches aside. "Now, we find them and make sure they never bother us or the city of Cairo again."

Yugi sighed, by now used to Yami's ambitiousness. "Yami, we can't. You're not well enough."

Yami sighed, by now used to Yugi's pessimism. "Yugi, I'm fine, and we can do it. Have faith."

"Look, I know you want to help, but –"

"Alright, that's enough." Yugi was silent; Yami's voice took on a new tone, turning agitated and uptight.

A new voice was heard in the room. "Guys, I hate to admit it, but we _do_ need him." It was the first time Tristan had spoken in a while. All eyes were on him.

"Look, we all have our own talents in this group. Yugi has the bravery, Yami has the brains, I have the muscle – " he nodded towards Tea " – and Tea is the glue that holds us all together with her love and support." He returned his focus to the rest of the group. "One of us missing is critical, and we might not be able to defeat the enemies without him."

There was a few seconds delay before Joey realized Tristan had skipped him. "Ehhh… what do I got, uh?"

Tristan grinned. "You're the comic relief!"

"Say dat one more time and you'll be needin' some medical attention too!"

"Guys," Yami's voice entered the conversation, and everyone was silent. "Stop bickering. I have a plan."

It was silent, empty, and desolate – in broad daylight. This was the place, wasn't it?

Perhaps those – well, Yami didn't really know what to call them, seeing as how they were always cloaked and wearing armor – creatures were just too dumb to try to find them again. He had what they were after – the Millennium Puzzle, sitting as waiting bait in his lap, rolling slightly as the jeep bounced over the uneven desert ground.

The teenagers rode in silence, mostly in anxiety, focus, or fear. Last time they came out here, they almost lost a crucial member to their group.

"We're here, my King." The jeep slowed to a stop in the seemingly middle of nowhere.

"Thank you, Odion, but really, I insist that you call me Yami."

"As you wish, King Yami."

The one dubbed 'King Yami' gingerly stepped off the jeep with the help of Tea, as Joey held his crutches out to him to take.

"You sure you wanna go through with dis, Yami?"

Without looking up, he answered. "As sure as I'll ever be." A confident smirk spread across his face. "You guys ready?" He took the crutches and gripped them firmly.

The rest of the gang gave reluctant nods in response. Without missing a beat, Yami pushed his crutches forward and began his journey towards the previous battle scene that he remembered. The Millennium Puzzle gleamed in the desert sun.

"Come and get me."

On cue, a faint chorus of horses' hooves was heard from the other side of the chasm in front of him. He readied himself as the rumbling continued to grow louder until, as much anticipated, the enemies came into view. It looked like about forty men, maybe more, but no less, he was certain. Each soldier was riding an enormous black horse wearing black armor plates, matching their riders'. They stood beside each other, forming single file lines. Each rider carried bows and arrows.

Last time, they didn't have any weaponry of any sort at all. He also remembered the enemies as larger and bulkier. Perhaps the leader of this cult had different offense armies. And perhaps, these archers were smarter.

"Ready…"

Yami most likely appeared a wounded gazelle, waiting for the predator to end its misery. Perfect. That's what he wanted. Live bait.

The supposed leader of the army pulled back his bowstring and prepared to shoot, aiming the arrow squarely at Yami. Joey cocked his gun.

_Bang._

It was like the Shot Heard 'Round the World. A flurry of arrows and gunshots exploded in the battle field. Yami immediately threw himself to the ground, abandoning his crutches and covering his ears with his hands. He couldn't see anything with his face in the dirt, but he knew that Joey, Tristan, Yugi, Tea, and Odion were fighting valiantly on his side. Though he initially objected the idea of Yugi and Tea using guns, he was grateful of their bravery. Still, he prayed. For all of them.

His prayer wasn't quite enough. An ear-splitting shriek rung in the air, followed by several grunts of agony and pain. There was only one female in the group.

"TEA!" Yami screamed over the onslaught. Without giving a second thought, he jumped to his feet and jogged his way to her, trying to ignore the excruciating pain in his ankle. Tea was on one knee, the gun abandoned on the ground a few feet away. A long black arrow was lodged into her shoulder.

"Tea, I'm going to take it out!" he had to yell to her, even though he was right in front of her.

"No, get out of here!" she yelled back. "You're going to get yourself killed if you stay here!"

"There's no way in hell I'm leaving you Tea! Now hold still!" He kneeled down to her level and wrapped his hand around the offending arrow.

"Yami look out!"

He reacted, but not soon enough. A sharp object made contact with his lower left back, creating a searing pain unlike anything he had ever felt before, and the force was enough to knock him forward a bit. A choked cry emitted from his throat as he felt the blood immediately begin to run down the small of his back. His hand was still on the arrow in Tea's shoulder, and his other hand was on her other shoulder. She noticed.

"Now just relax and hold still…" he completely ignored the fact that an arrow had struck him, like it ever happened.

He pulled the arrow free, tossing it aside. Tea gasped in pain, but relief was evident on her face.

"Thank you."

"You're wel- AGH!" Another arrow had struck his right shoulder. His vision was hazy now.

"Yami!" Tea cried. She started to say something else, but her voice faded to mumbling to his ears as he blacked out.

He was back in the hospital. This time, two bandages were stuck to his back and shoulder.

Tea was beside him, a bandage on her own shoulder as well. She looked distressed. No one else was in the room.

Yami smiled. "You broke your promise to me, Tea." She gave him a rather confused look.

"What promise?"

"Two days ago, you promised me that I would die on the battle field if I went there in my condition. Well, here I am, alive. At least I think I am."

"Why did you do that though? You know… helped me out? You could have died!"

Hell, it was worth it. "Because… well… I love you."

Then Yami made a bold move that she did not expect. He sat up in his bed and gently grasped her chin in his hand, pulling her into a warm kiss.

Without moving more than an inch away from his face, she whispered, "I love you too. Despite the fact that you're a total idiot for risking your life like that. By the way, the army is gone, the boys killed them all. They won't be bothering you anymore."

"Until the next army of enemies arrives, I suppose," he replied nonchalantly. Tea giggled.

"Just know that I'll always be there for you, fighting by your side."

"Thank you."

THE END


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